Dreamtime stories - Cotton Tree to Mooloolaba

Indigenous educator Beverly Hand's indigenous connection to the land on the Sunshine Coast gives this Kabi Kabi woman a unique role in documenting and sharing the traditional Aboriginal history and culture of the region.

This week is NAIDOC week, to see what events are happening throughout the week here on the Sunshine Coast, check out the NAIDOC website.

From Maleny, Beverly has worked in conservation and land management for 22 years and is well known for her efforts to educate the community about the environment and the cultural history of Aboriginal people on the Coast.

Recently Beverly was awarded an Honorary Senior Fellowship at the University of the Sunshine Coast for her interest in teaching people about the environment - as a volunteer, guest lecturer and as an employee of Barung Landcare.

"I got into this area of work because this is my country. This is where my home is - I need to know as much as possible about my country and to share that with others.

"I believe in proactively caring for country. If I can share with people what my country has to offer, the more care they will take and be more responsible for looking after it," says Beverly.

Beverly's environmental work also involves presenting to schools, community groups, businesses, local governments and the state government.

"I'll do talks, walks and presentations ... it varies," she said. "A lot of people refer to me as the story teller. I tell stories about Indigenous culture, history, heritage, the environment and how we relate to the environment."

Listen to the attached audio files to hear Beverly's accounts of local indigenous history.

Aboriginal history - Sunshine Coast

The Kabi Kabi people of the Sunshine Coast took their name from the pale honey gathered from the eucalypts of the hinterland. The group was made up of a number of smaller tribes inhabiting the region from Elimbah Creek in the south, to Cooloola National Park in the north.

Aboriginal groups built a number of permanent huts from wattle and tea trees, positioning them about 5 to 6 kilometres apart. The tribes moved from one hut to the next to allow the regeneration of local foodstuffs to occur, or if a death occurred in the tribe.

The coastal strip and estuaries provided plentiful food sources including kangaroos, possums, echidnas, lizards, snakes and birds. The ocean provided a bounty of dugong, fish and shellfish. The women of the tribe would gather fern roots, eggs and honey, as well as gathering various leaves and grasses with which to fashion baskets. The first European settlers noticed that the Aborigines in the area tended to display stronger features and physique than those further south, where food was scarcer.

Tribes usually respected one another's territory but occasionally fights broke out and it was not unusual for the victors to dine on the flesh of their enemies.

In late summer, the tribes would gather on the western side of the ridge near Obi Obi Creek to participate in the Bunya Feast. A celebration of feasting, dance and song would ensue with tribes coming together to talk through their problems and arrange marriages between tribes, to prevent inbreeding. The Bunya Trees were marked by members of the tribes, with ownership being passed down by the father to the eldest son. The bunya nuts, tasting similar to sweet potato, were usually eaten raw or roasted.

Feasting and celebrations would last about a month, with tribes trading for items that were not available in their district. Coastal Aborigines would swap rugs made from possum fur, shields, shells and dilly bags for prized spear heads, sharpened stones for tools, and colourful ochre.

The Glass House Mountains were seen by the Aborigines as a mysterious place of spiritual significance. A Bora Ring just one kilometre south of the mountains served as a place of initiation for young men. The mountains of Tibrogargan, Coonowrin and Beerwah also have much cultural significance.

Many of the names that we use today to describes areas of the Sunshine Coast have roots in Aboriginal culture.

- Caloundra - from kalowen-dha or kalowen-ba, meaning 'a place of beech trees'